Engineering Practice

Specifying Shell-andTube Heat Exchangers

Understand what heat exchanger design
specialists need to know and remember,
you know your process best

Shellside
fluid

Tubeside
fluid

Asif Raza

hell-and-tube heat exchangers

are one of the most important
and commonly used process
equipment items in the chemical process industries (CPI). If you
are working on a project during either
the basic or the detailed engineering
phase, there is a good chance that you
will need to specify one or more shelland-tube exchangers and perhaps
many of them.
While the actual design will likely
be done by a specialist at an equipment vendor or within your own company, you still need to fill out a process
datasheet for each heat exchanger and
in due course, review the vendors detailed proposal. You know your process
best, and it is a bad idea to rely on the
vendor always to make the right decisions. This article shows you the basics
of specifying and selecting shell-andtube heat exchangers: the process information and preliminary design decisions needed to fill out the datasheet,
and how to check any corresponding
assumptions made by the vendor. Although it does not go into detail on the
design procedure, the article is also a
good starting point if you intend to design the heat exchanger yourself.

Datasheet information
Though every company is likely to have
its own heat exchanger datasheet,
most of them look much like the
sample shown in Figure 2 (p. 49). To
complete the datasheet you will need
to know:
1. The composition and normal flowrate of the process fluid(s), and the

temperature change re- FIGURE 1. Which luid goes on the shellside and
quired. Refer to heat and which on the tubeside? There is no straightforward
answer, but the guidelines presented here will help
material balances.
you decide
2. Process fluid properties
sible to clean the tubes by water jetdensity, viscosity and thermal conting, having simply opened the head
ductivity at the operating temof the exchanger, without needing to
perature and pressure.
remove the tube bundle. The shell
and the outside of the tube bundle,
Which fluid on which side?
on the other hand, are harder to
Next comes your first design deciclean mechanically, and chemical
sion: Which fluid goes on the shellside
cleaning is often the only option.
and which on the tubeside (Figure 1)?
There is no straightforward answer, The shellside offers a larger crosssection for vapor flow, and hence
but some considerations and rules of
lower pressure drops. Process vathumb outlined in an online reference
pors to be condensed are therefore
(http://smartprocessdesign.com) and
normally placed on the shellside,
incorporating the authors experience
though the tubeside is generally
are summarized here:
used for condensing steam.
Corrosive fluids are best kept to the
tubeside. Since the tubeside has less The baffles on the shellside help to
ensure good mixing, which reduces
metal than the shellside, this will
the effects of laminar flow and thereminimize the use of expensive metfore tends to increase heat-transfer
als that may be needed to withstand
coefficients. Hence you will get betthe fluids corrosive properties.
ter heat transfer if viscous fluids are
Fluids at extreme pressures and
kept on the shellside I confirmed
temperatures are preferably kept to
this recently on a project involving a
the tubeside, because they are likely
very viscous polymer.
to require a greater metal thickness,
or more expensive materials of con- Twisted tubes, static mixers or tube
inserts increase turbulence and
struction. The tubes, being smaller
thus heat-transfer coefficients on
in diameter than the shell, withthe tubeside by reducing the effects
stand higher pressures.
of laminar flow. Because these are
Fluids that need to be kept at a high
usually proprietary technologies,
velocity, such as water or propylene
however, your ability to check the
glycol for cooling, should be kept on
vendors performance claims may be
the tubeside.
limited. If you think you would ben Dirty fluids, or streams that are othefit from one of these technologies,
erwise likely to cause fouling, should
work closely with the vendor and be
go on the tubeside. This is because
sure to evaluate all the options.
the tubes are easier to clean than
the shell. For instance, it is often pos- In heat exchanger designs that feaCHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2013

47

TABLE 1. TYPICAL FOULING FACTORS

Engineering Practice
ture gaskets or floating heads, the
shellside typically is not a suitable
location for fluids that are hazardous, corrosive or especially valuable, because the risk of leaks is too
high. Such fluids should therefore
normally go on the tubeside. Exchangers featuring all-welded construction can safely carry hazardous
fluids on the shellside, though you
should remember the difficulty of
cleaning the shellside.
Thermal expansion may be an issue
if one of the fluids undergoes a temperature change of more than 150
200C (300400F). In this case you
would normally put the high-temperature-change fluid on the shellside, which is better able to handle
large temperature changes in certain exchanger designs.
In summary, the fluids preferred on
the tubeside are the following:
Cooling water
The more-fouling, erosive or corrosive fluid
The less-viscous fluid
The fluid at higher pressure
The hotter fluid
The smaller volumetric flowrate.
Remember, however, that none of the
suggestions above is definitive. Use
them as a starting point, but if they
indicate a different fluid arrangement
from what has been used in the past
in your plant or industry, you may find
that there is a good reason. If two suggestions conflict, or the performance
of your initial configuration looks unsatisfactory because the predicted
pressure drop or heat-transfer performance does not meet your requirements do not be afraid to reverse
the arrangement of the two fluids and
see whether that improves matters.

More key decisions

Allowable pressure drop. You will
have to understand the process thoroughly before you can attempt to
specify the pressure drop on each side
of the heat exchanger. As a rule of
thumb, start with 10 psi on both the
shellside and the tubeside. If there
is a pump upstream of the heat exchanger, there probably will be no concern about pressure drop as long as
the pump can handle this. For gases, if
there is a compressor upstream, check
48

Fluid

Typical fouling factor

(ft2Fh/Btu)

Fuel oil

0.005

with your equipment-design

0.0005
engineer that it can provide Steam (clean)
the necessary pressure drop.
0.001
For cooling water, check for Exhaust steam (oil bearing)
constraints on the allowable Refrigerant vapors (oil bearing) 0.002
return pressure at the batCompressed air
0.002
tery limit of the unit.
Sometimes the need to
0.001
optimize the heat exchanger Industrial organic heat-transfer
media
means that you will have to
take a higher pressure drop Refrigerant liquids
0.001
than originally specified. A
0.001
higher pressure drop means Hydraulic fluid
higher velocity, which in
Molten heat-transfer salts
0.0005
turns gives a higher Reynolds number and a higher Acid gas
0.001
heat-transfer
coefficient.
0.001
Give the heat exchanger Solvent vapors
vendor an allowable presMEA and DEA solutions
0.002
sure drop as high as realistically possible to allow DEG and TEG solutions
0.002
flexibility in optimizing the
0.002
design. Once the designer Caustic solutions
has confirmed the calcuVegetable oils
0.003
lated pressure drop, pass
this value on to your rotary Lean oil
0.002
equipment engineer, who
0.001
will need it for sizing pumps Cooling water
and compressors.
Natural gas
0.001
Fouling factors. These are
very important in sizing the Atmospheric tower overhead
0.001
heat exchanger. Do not ex- vapors
pect the vendor to provide
0.002
you with fouling factors. A Vacuum overhead vapors
higher fouling factor trans- Specifying appropriate fouling factors is imlates to a lower design heat- portant but not always easy. In the absence of
transfer coefficient (Ud) and operating experience, pick figures from reliable
a larger required surface published sources.
area. Fouling factors can
Source: TEMA
often be taken from existing
plant data. If these are not available, 10%, but can be up to 30%. Choose a
you will have to assume a value taken value from your plants or units defrom company guidelines or published sign basis, or ask your customer.
sources (Table 1). Make sure that your Heating and cooling curve. If the
customer whether internal or ex- heat exchanger will be used to conternal is in agreement with your as- dense or vaporize process fluids, the
sumed fouling factor. Designing with vendor will require a corresponding
a too-high fouling factor will result in heating or cooling curve showing how
an oversized heat exchanger that will the vapor fraction varies with tempercost you more and probably will not ature, and the corresponding thermal
properties of the liquid and vapor fracwork as intended.
Excess area. The difference between tions. A heating or cooling curve with
the design heat-transfer coefficient 810 points can easily be generated
and the service heat-transfer coef- using simulation software.
ficient provides a safety factor, often Design temperature and pressure.
known as excess area because it is Calculate the design temperature and
equivalent to specifying a larger heat- pressure on both the shellside and the
transfer area than necessary. The tubeside by adding an appropriate
excess area is usually a minimum of safety margin to the maximum values

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2013

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Customer
Address
Plant Location
Service of Unit
Size
Surf/Unit (Gross/Eff.)

Type

(Hor/Vert)
sq ft; Shells/Unit

Job No.
Reference No.
Proposal No.
Date
Item No.
Connected in
Surf/Shell (Gross/Eff.)

Rev.
Parallel

Series
sq ft

PERFORMANCE OF ONE UNIT

Fluid Allocation
Shell Side
Tube Side
(In|Out)
Fluid Name
Fluid Quantity Total
lb/hr
Vapor
|
|
Liquid
|
|
Steam
|
|
Water
|
|
Noncondensable
|
|
F
Temperature
|
|
Specific Gravity
|
|
Viscosity, Liquid
cP
|
|
Molecular Weight, Vapor
|
|
Molecular Weight, Noncondensable
|
|
BTU / lb F
Specific Heat
|
|
BTU ft / hr sq ft F
Thermal Conductivity
|
|
BTU / lb @ F
Latent Heat
Inlet Pressure
psia
Velocity
ft / sec
Pressure Drop, Allow. /Calc
psi
/
/
hr sq ft F / BTU
Fouling Resistance (Min.)
F
Heat Exchanged
BTU / hr LMTD (Corrected)
BTU / hr sq ft F
Transfer Rate, Service
Clean
CONSTRUCTION OF ONE SHELL
Sketch (Bundle/Nozzle Orientation)
Shell Side
Tube Side
/
/
Design / Test Pressure
psig
F
/
/
Design Temp. Max/Min
No. Passes per Shel
Corrosion Allowance
in
Connections In
Size &
Out
Rating
Intermediate
Tube No.
OD
in;Thk (Min/Avg)
in;Length
ft;Pitch
in
30 60
90 45
Tube Type
Materia
Shell
ID
OD
in
Shell Cover
(Integ.)
(Remov.)
Channel or Bonne
Channel Cover
Tubesheet-Stationary
Tubesheet-Floating
Floating Head Cove
Impingement Protection
Baffles-Cross
%Cut (Diam/Area)
Spacing: c/c
Inlet
in
Type
Baffles-Long
Seal Type
Supports-Tube
U-Bend
Type
Bypass Seal Arrangemen
Tube-to-Tubesheet Joint
Expansion Joint
Type
p v2-Inlet Nozzle
Bundle Entrance
Bundle Exit
Gaskets-Shell Side
Tube Side
Floating Head
Code Requirements
TEMA Class
Weight / Shell
Filled with Water
lb
Bundle
Remarks

60
61
FIGURE 2. A typical datasheet for a shell-and-tube heat exchanger lists all the information required for a detailed design
Source: TEMA (Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association, Inc.; Tarrytown, N.Y.; www.tema.org).

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2013

49

Engineering Practice
Source: TEMA

Front-end
stationary head types

Rear-end
head types

Shell types

E
A

L
Fixed tubesheet
like A stationary head

One pass shell

Channel and
removable cover

M
Fixed tubesheet
like B stationary head

Two pass shell

with longitudinal baffle

Fixed tubesheet
like N stationary head

Split flow

Bonnet (integral cover)

P
H
C

Removable
tube
bundle
only
Channel integral with tubesheet and removable cover

Outside packed
floating head
Double split flow

S
Floating head
with backing device

Divided flow

T
Pull through floating head

K
Channel integral with tubesheet and removable cover

U
Kettle type reboiler
U-tube bundle

X
W
Special high pressure
closure

Cross flow

Externally sealed
floating tubesheet

FIGURE 3. TEMA exchanger-type codes provide a shorthand for different basic designs and construction methods

expected in service. Consider the following guidelines:

1. To arrive at the design temperature,
add a margin of 30C (50F) to the
maximum allowable operating temperature of the exchanger.
2. Similarly, the design pressure can be
calculated by adding an appropriate
margin to the maximum allowable
operating pressure.
3. If the process hazard analysis has
identified tube rupture as a hazard,
to avoid the need to design a pressure relief valve for the tube rupture
case, the shellside design pressure
50

must be at least 77% of the tubeside

design pressure (the 10/13 rule).
For instance, if the tubeside design
pressure is 500 psig, the minimum
shellside design pressure should be
500 10/13 = 385 psig. The logic of
this is that ASME codes require the
shell to be hydraulically tested at
1.3 times its design pressure, so tube
rupture which is generally considered an unlikely event would
not pressurize the shell beyond its
test pressure.
4. When deciding the design temperature, consider routine operations

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2013

such as steaming of the heat exchanger during maintenance.

Design codes. Under ASME rules, if
the operating pressure is higher than
15 psig, then the heat exchanger is
considered a pressure vessel, and the
pressure-vessel design code ASME
section VIII, Div. 1 or 2 applies. Similar logic applies to different pressure
vessel codes used outside the U.S. and
Canada; make sure you use the code
appropriate to the country in which
the equipment will be used.
The Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Assn., Inc. (TEMA; Tarrytown, N.Y.;

TABLE 2. TYPICAL DESIGN HEAT-TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS

Hot fluid

Cold fluid

Ud (Btu/hFft2)

Water

Water

250500

Aqueous solution

Aqueous solution

250500

Light organics

Light organics

4075

Medium organics

Water

50125

Heavy organics

Heavy organics

1040

Heavy organics

Light organics

3060

Light organics

Heavy organics

1040

If a vendors calculated heat-transfer coefficients are reasonably close to reliable

published values, the thermal design is probably correct. Do not expect an exact
match. Light organics are fluids with viscosities less than 0.5 cP. Medium organics
are 0.51 cP, and heavy organics are above 1 cP.
Source: Process Heat Transfer, Donald Q. Kern, McGraw-Hill Companies, 1950.

www.tema.org) issues its own design

and manufacturing codes. There are
three categories: TEMA C, B and R. In
simple terms, TEMA C applies mostly

to water, oil and air at low or moderate

pressures and temperatures, and is the
most cost-effective standard in cases
where it is applicable. TEMA B is for

chemicals and petrochemicals at higher

temperatures and pressures. TEMA R,
for severe service involving high pressures and temperatures, is widely used
in petroleum refineries, and is the most
expensive option. Inappropriate TEMA
ratings will significantly increase the
cost of a heat exchanger, so choose
carefully based on existing plant data
or suitable guidelines.
Keep in mind that you do not necessarily have to design your heat
exchanger to TEMA standards. In
particular, TEMA B and R standards
enforce a minimum tube diameter
which could lead to too-low velocities
if the tubeside flowrate is small. The
resulting low heat-transfer coefficient
may require a large and expensive
heat exchanger. In such situations, it
may be best not to design your heat
exchanger to TEMA standards.
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heat exchanger for the application

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51

Engineering Practice
(Figure 3, p.50), and in this case there
are no right or wrong answers. Here is
a list of criteria that will help you in
making a decision:
1. If the fluids are relatively clean and
the difference in temperature between
the shellside and the tubeside is not
very high (around 100C / 200F), then
consider a BEM (fixed tubesheet)
design. Typical applications are condensers; liquid-liquid, gas-gas, and
gas-liquid heating and cooling; and
vertical thermosyphons.
2. If the heat exchanger must accommodate a significant amount of thermal expansion between shell and
tubes (more than 100C / 200F), consider type BEU, in which the tubes
are free to expand. Keep in mind
that BEU exchanger tubes can only
be cleaned chemically, not mechanically, so these exchangers are best
suited to clean service on both the
shellside and the tubeside.
3. For a chiller with refrigerant evapo-

rating on the shellside and cooling

a process fluid on the tubeside, consider a heat exchanger of type BKU.
4. Similarly to Point 2 above, if the difference in operating temperature
between shellside and tubeside is
more than 100C (200F), consider a
design with hairpin tubes, a floating
head or a floating tubesheet (types
PW). These types are best suited to
dirty fluids, and may be either horizontal or vertical.
5. If you encounter a temperature
cross that is, if the outlet temperature of the hot fluid is below the
outlet temperature of the cold fluid
then you cannot use a single
BEM or BEU type heat exchanger.
Consider a BFS type with a twopass shell and a longitudinal baffle,
or two shells in series. Other types
of heat exchanger, such as spiral
and plate types, are fully countercurrent and so better suited to handling temperature crosses.

Material of construction. Do not

trust the vendor to pick the right material of construction for your service.
That is your job. That said, do not take
responsibility for the material of construction unless you have agreed it
with the user or verified it with an appropriate expert.
Tube-to-tubesheet joints. These determine the integrity of your shelland-tube heat exchanger. The basic
guidelines are the following:
1. For a design pressure of less than
300 psig and a design temperature
below 180C (350F), use rolled and
expanded tube-to-tubesheet joints.
These are used primarily for water,
air and oil service.
2. For higher design pressures or temperatures, use grooved, rolled and
expanded tube joints.
3. When dealing with light hydrocarbons or other flammable fluids, even
at low pressure and temperature,
consider seal welding.

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4. For hydrocarbons or flammable vapors at high pressures and temperatures, consider additional welding
for strength.
Special instructions. This category
covers specifications including the
tube pitch, baffle type, minimum tube
diameter, tube length and orientation
of the heat exchanger. Use customer
specifications or guidance where
available, and ask vendors whether
these will have any implications. If no
specifications are available, use your
judgment. For instance, if your shellside fluid is very fouling, use a square
tube pitch to aid cleanability. Decrease
baffle spacing to increase turbulence,
and thus heat-transfer coefficient,
on the shellside. If you have a height
limitation, ask the vendor to limit the
tube length.

Reviewing vendor quotes

After you have received your quotes
it is time to review them and select a
vendor. Here are the most important
points to look for:
Basic process requirements: For
both fluids (shellside and tubeside),
the vendors specification should
match your specified flowrate, operating temperature and pressure,
and properties such as density, viscosity, and thermal conductivity.
Materials of construction, design
pressure and design temperature
as per your instructions.
Fluid velocity: Should generally be
in the range of 38 ft/s on both the
tubeside and the shellside. Lower
velocities will mean lower heattransfer coefficients and larger required surface areas.
Compare the calculated clean heattransfer coefficient (Uc) and the design heat-transfer coefficient (Ud)
with typical values from your company sources or published literature (Table 2, p. 51). Do not expect
close matches each application
is different, and heat-transfer coefficients depend on many factors.
If the U values proposed by the vendor are very different from what
you would expect, however, then
the design may be at fault. In such
a situation, review the design with
the vendor.
Check the heat-transfer area. Dif-

ferent vendors will propose different values based on varying exchanger geometry and calculated
heat-transfer coefficients. Pick a
geometry that meets your requirements best.
Check the heat duty and make sure
it matches your specified value.
Check the code requirements.
Check that the vendor has complied with any special instructions
including tube diameter, tube pitch,
tube length, baffle type, baffle pitch,
and excess area.
Check the price and delivery
schedule for the heat exchanger.
Weigh all the options and select
a vendor.
Close coordination with the heat exchanger vendor and a solid understanding of the process requirements
are essential to heat exchanger design and selection. By understanding
different kinds of heat exchangers
and developing a solid understanding

of heat-transfer coefficients, fouling

factors and so on, you will be on the
right track to design and select the
most appropriate heat exchanger for
your process.

Edited by Charles Butcher

Author
Asif Raza (Mississauga, Ont.,
Canada; Phone: 905607
1335; Email: asifraza_us@
yahoo.com) is an equipment
design engineer at Praxair
Canada. His work involves
the design and specification
of major equipment, such as
cryogenic centrifugal pumps,
shell-and-tube heat exchangers, vessels and vaporizers.
He has more than 15 years
of experience in process design. His interests
include sizing and specifying major equipment,
P&ID development, process simulation and selection of control logic. Before joining Praxair he
was lead process engineer at Zeton Inc., where
his work involved design and fabrication of pilot
plants for research and development. Previously
he worked with companies including Bantrel
and SNC Lavalin. He holds a B.Tech degree in
chemical engineering from Amravati University,
India. Raza is a registered professional engineer
in the province of Ontario and is also a member
of Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.

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